As Megan continues to recover from her bout with vertigo/sinus/inner ear infection (yes, she called the doctor and is on another round of seriously enormous antibiotics), one of her biggest challenges is trying to keep track of Stevie. Ya know, where she is and what she's doing. Meanwhile, Stevie has discovered the drawstring to Megan's sweatpants. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happens next... if Megan wants to know where Stevie is, all she has to do is tug on that drawstring (which is not removable). I guess that's one way to handle it.

G

As predicted, Stevie is back to her regular self today, driving Megan nuts, running around, playing and getting into stuff. That normally isn't a problem, but Megan's sinus infection seems to be back and has given her a nasty round of vertigo. She said she simply can't keep track of where Stevie is or what she's doing. So she just says Stevie's name periodically to make sure she's not getting into, eating, or playing with something she's not supposed to. Megan's calling the doctor in the morning and hopefully, both she and Stevie will get some good sleep tonight.
G

Megan called me around 2:30, not happy because the vet called and said she couldn't pick Stevie up from her dental appointment until after 3:00. She swore she would be there at 3:01.

She called me again at a little after 3 to say that Stevie was a little groggy, but otherwise fine. The vet had offered her a bottle with Stevie's baby teeth in it, but Megan said, "Ewww, no thanks!" (same thing I said when Star had hers pulled).

Stevie must have known something was going on; she barfed twice on her pooh bear blankie on the way there and pooped on it on the way home. Needless to say, Mr. Pooh Bear has *not* had the best day.

But when she got home and Megan offered her some food (she soaked her dry food in water in the fridge so she could have the same diet) she was pretty darned interested. So Megan felt a little better about the whole thing. I told her I'm sure Stevie will wake up in the morning running around like crazy saying, "What dental work??? Where's Lucy?! When are you gonna feed me???"
Ya gotta love the resilience of pups.

G

Today I drove into Austin to meet my foster dog Star's prospective adoptive family at a dog park. The outing went well, and Star went home with a new mommy, daddy and brother (Min Pin/Dachshund mix, Spike). I think she was confused, but I know they will give her plenty of love and time to bond with them.

As luck would have it, the dog park was just a few minutes down the road from my sister's place, so I went to visit her and get my "Stevie fix". That dog is just as cute and hysterical as ever. I don't know why I keep expecting her to stop being cute. I just keep thinking, she's going to grow up and be bigger and somehow stop being so darned precious. But there she is, cuter than ever and so full of beans, it's amazing.

She discovered my key chain today and decided that was much better than any of her other toys, which by now probably number somewhere in the millions. Okay, hundreds of thousands. Anyway, she was her comical little self as usual. Oh, yes, her comical little self weighs 5 lbs now.

I looked at her teeth again, and man, she's got a mouthful and then some. Her appointment is for Tuesday, and I know Megan (and I as well, if the truth be known) is anxious about it. It will be fine, of course, but it's hard not to worry.

I've put a couple of new photos in the Gallery so you can see her being disgustingly cute with my keys.

Stay tuned for more Stevie...

G

Megan took Stevie back to the vet today to see about her alien dog teeth. The doctor agreed that, yes, those teeth need to be "coerced" into coming out. Evidently, the baby teeth just aren't getting loose enough to fall out on their own and allow her adult teeth all the room they need to grow.

She goes back on Tuesday for dental work. The good news is, the doctor who looked at her asked Megan to bring her back specifically when she is there. She said that while all of the doctors on staff are qualified to do the dental work, she is really interested in that and makes it somewhat of a specialty, so she will do a better job.

Megan wasn't really ready to face this eventuality just yet -- not so much the expense, but rather the mental anguish that goes with putting a beloved pet under anesthetic -- but she wants the best for Stevie, and the vet told her in no uncertain terms that those extra teeth are not only probably at least mildly uncomfortable for Stevie (no wonder she likes chewing on Lucy so much!), but that they're definitely messing up her bite. So, the appointment has been made, and Megan will arrange her schedule so that Stevie is one of the first in to see the doctor that morning, and, thus, one of the first to be allowed to go back home in the afternoon on Tuesday.

We will, of course, let you know how everything goes.

In the meantime, have a great weekend, everybody.

G